Eurozone growth falls despite German boost

The German economy grew at its fastest rate in two years in the first three months of 2016John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

Growth in the eurozone was revised down to 0.5 per cent for the first quarter, despite an unexpected boost from Germany.

The economies of 17 of the 19 eurozone countries were in positive territory, with only Greece and Latvia contracting but the Eurostat, the agency that provides official statistics, reined back on its earlier view of 0.6 per cent overall growth.

Germany and Spain led the way, recording improvements of 0.7 and 0.8 per cent respectively, with France adding a respectable 0.5 per cent from January to March, despite President Hollande’s struggle to reform the economy.

Italy was again a weaker performer on 0.3 per cent while Portugal stood still on 0.1 per cent in a blow for the new government, which could face renewed…

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